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Robby Gordon Motorsports

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Robby Gordon Motorsports

Robby Gordon Motorsports is a motorsports constructor and racing team owned by Robby Gordon. The company was formed in 2005 as a race team for Gordon's NASCAR career, competing in the sport from 2005 to 2012 in the Cup Series and Xfinity Series. While in NASCAR, the team recorded one win (at Richmond in 2004) and 30 top-ten finishes. After 2012, Gordon shut down the team's NASCAR operations. RGM became the constructor of vehicles for Stadium Super Trucks, a new racing series owned by Gordon.

In 2000, after spending the 1999 season racing in Champ Car open-wheel racing, Team Gordon, owned by Robby Gordon, John Menard, and Mike Held, moved to competition in the NASCAR Cup Series; the team struggled and closed after the end of the season, with Gordon moving to drive for Morgan-McClure Motorsports.

In 2004, Gordon and Menard bought back the former Team Menard base in North Carolina. There, Gordon started his own Busch Series team, deciding to run part-time for the 2004 season. He received a primary sponsorship from Fruit of the Loom and his team was assigned the #55. He had a fantastic Busch Series season, which was statistically, Gordon's best Busch Season of his career; he picked up over 15 top-ten finishes. He won one race that September, at Richmond in his self-owned No. 55 Fruit of the Loom/Menards/Mapei Chevrolet gaining public notice to Robby Gordon Motorsports. Like in the Cup Series, his first win was on an oval track rather than a road course. By season's end, Gordon parted ways with Richard Childress Racing, his Cup team at the time, in favor of bringing his new team up to the Cup Series.

Gordon purchased the defunct Ultra Motorsports for the 2005 season with Menard as a business partner and former owner Jim Smith being listed as owner for provisional points. In 2005, Menard built engines for RGM with little success, as the engines were prone to failure. This led RGM to switch engine suppliers and lease from Dale Earnhardt, Inc. At the same time, RGM got into a sponsorship dispute with Fruit of the Loom, leading to the dissolving of their partnership and a lawsuit embroiled afterwards. The suit was settled out of court in 2006.

Robby Gordon found primary sponsorship in Jim Beam Whiskey, which became the pivotal sponsor; he also found minor sponsors in Menard's, Red Bull Energy Drink, Mapei, and Camping World RV's. While running a full-time Cup program, Robby Gordon and the team chose to cut back on their Busch Series starts. During their 2005 Busch Series season, Gordon's #55 team, mostly sponsored by Red Bull Energy Drink, finished with two top-ten finishes, including a narrow runner-up finish at Watkins Glen. For the inaugural Busch Series race in Mexico City, Gordon qualified 2nd in his #83 Red Bull Chevrolet, before suffering engine failure after charging from the back of the field towards the top-ten.

However, his 2005 Cup Series campaign was disappointing. In 2005 Gordon recorded only two top tens in total for the season. Gordon came close to winning or ending up in the top ten in the 2005 Sylvania 300 but a caution had ruined his day. After Joe Nemechek spun with Mike Bliss, Gordon had made a pass on Michael Waltrip. After the caution was reviewed for Bliss and Nemechek's crash, the camera turned to see that Gordon was wrecked severely. NASCAR heard from Gordon that Waltrip had spun him just as the caution flew seconds after he had passed Waltrip. Gordon was so furious that he first tried to turn his car around to wait for Waltrip to come back around and then crash him; but when his car failed to move Gordon tried to pull backward in front of Waltrip but when this attempt at revenge failed also, Gordon finally climbed out of his car and tossed his helmet at Waltrip's hood. In reply Waltrip on the radio mockingly repeated Gordon's own words Gordon said in 2004 in one race at the same track "He just threw a helmet on my car...well that is just rude. It was his fault." Then on a radio minutes later to a reporter Gordon said "You know, everybody thinks Michael is this good guy. He is not the good guy he like acts he is. The caution was out, and he wrecked me, and he is a piece of shit."

To exchange peace offerings between each other, RGM permitted Gordon and Waltrip to sign the mostly unscathed helmet and auction it with the purpose of donating to the Hurricane Katrina victims in 2005. The helmet was bought by GoldenPalace.com for $51,000 and the helmet remains on display in the headquarters of GoldenPalace.

In 2006, Gordon came near to another NBS victory. At Watkins Glen in late summer, Gordon led ten laps but was passed by Kurt Busch with about 15 laps left. Busch held off Gordon for the rest of the race. On the final lap, Gordon charged at Busch and managed to nearly push Kurt into a mistake on the straightaway. Gordon tried to pass Busch in the inner loop, but he did not have enough momentum. Gordon then got side-by-side with Busch and their cars locked together. After a struggle, Kurt held onto the lead to eventually win the race. In victory lane, Busch thanked Gordon for a good fight, saying that it "reminded him of his fun fight for victory with Ricky Craven at Darlington in 2003."

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